Ill 


1 


535 


i 


i 


Our  Peril  on  the 
Eastern  Front 


Allied  Victory  in  the  West  Barren  Unless 
Slav  Peoples  to  the  East  are  Freed  from 
German  Domination  and  Formed 
Into  Strong  Independent 
Barrier  States 


BY 

CLARENCE  L.  SPEED 


THE  UNION  LEAGUE  CLUB 
OF  CHICAGO 
1918 


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BiiiiiiiiiiipiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiM 


■iiiiiiiniimiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiii^  


FOREWORD 


A few  months  ago  the  cause  of  democracy  was  in  dire  and  direct 
peril  on  the  Western  Front.  German  armies  were  driving  victoriously 
forward.  German  troops  were  filled  with  enthusiasm  and  the  will  to 
win.  There  was  imminent  danger  that  the  British  and  French  armies 
would  be  separated  and  crushed  in  detail,  and  the  Allied  cause  lost  in 
military  defeat  before  America  could  make  her  weight  felt. 

Today  this  immediate  peril  has  disappeared.  German  armies  are  in 
retreat.  German  soldiers  are  dispirited.  American  millions  are  pour- 
ing into  France,  full  of  fighting  enthusiasm.  British  and  French  alike 
have  been  rejuvenated  in  spirit.  Prospects  now  are  bright  for  a decisive 
military  victory  for  the  Allied  cause. 

Nevertheless  there  remains  great  danger  that  Germany  will  win  this 
war.  The  Central  Powers  have  gained  hundreds  of  thousands  of  square 
miles  of  territory  and  power  over  millions  of  people  by  their  victories 
on  the  Eastern  Front.  Even  before  the  war  they  had  millions  of  Slavs 
under  their  control.  All  Russia,  as  matters  now  stand,  lies  open  to 
Teutonic  domination  and  exploitation  unless  the  Allies  give  effective 
assistance. 

Our  greatest  peril  now  lies  on  the  Eastern  Front.  After  decisively 
defeating  Germany  in  the  West  the  Allies  must  dictate  a peace  which 
will  force  her  to  disgorge  all  she  has  gained  in  the  East.  They  must  go 
further  and  force  Austria-Hungary  to  set  free  the  Slav  peoples — Czecho- 
slovaks of  Bohemia,  Moravia  and  Slovakia;  Jugo-Slavs  comprising  the 
Slovenes,  Croatians,  Dalmatians  and  Serbs;  the  Poles  and  Ruthenes  of 
Galicia,  and  the  Rumanians  of  Transylvania  and  part  of  Bukowina — 
and  consent  to  their  formation  into  independent  barrier  states  which 
will  forever  bar  Teutonic  expansion  to  the  Eastward. 

If  the  Allies  do  not  do  this,  Germany  will  in  time  consolidate  and 
organize  these  possessions,  prepare  to  feed  herself  despite  all  blockades, 
form  an  army  twice  the  size  of  the  one  she  was  able  to  put  into  the  field 
in  this  war,  and  strike  again  when  she  is  ready. 

America  in  times  past  has  paid  little  attention  to  the  situation  in 
Eastern  Europe.  The  time  has  come  when  every  American  should  study 
this  complicated  question,  realize  its  extreme  importance  in  connection 
with  the  future  safety  of  the  world,  and  demand  that  no  peace  be  made 
which  will  leave  the  Central  Powers  in  a position  to  prepare  for  a 
future  and  mightier  war  for  world  conquest. 

Democracies  can  only  fight  for  causes  which  are  approved  by  the 
masses  of  their  people.  They  cannot  be  driven  into  war  at  the  behest  of 
a ruler.  Those  who  make  peace  for  democracies  must  be  guided  by  the 
wishes  of  their  peoples.  It  is  the  duty  of  every  individual  American  to 
know  the  facts  and  think  clearly  and  to  demand  first  a crushing  military 
victory  on  the  Western  Front  and  then  a peace  which  shall  remove 
forever  the  German  menace  to  world  safety  on  the  Eastern  Front. 

[For  map,  and  brief  sketches  of  the  nations  held  in  bondage  by  the  Central 
Powers,  see  Appendix.] 


I 

GERMANY  BATTLES  TO  KEEP  LOOT  IN  EAST 

Fifty-five  million  souls  have  been  reduced  to  virtual  slavery  and 
494,552  square  miles  of  territory  have  been  overrun  by  the  Germans  as 
a result  of  the  war  on  the  Eastern  Front.  From  the  Arctic  Ocean  to  the 
Black  Sea  the  heavy  hand  of  German  domination  has  been  laid  upon 
conquered  peoples.  A territory  more  than  twice  the  size  of  the  present 
German  Empire  has  come  under  German  rule,  and  the  population  of 
the  German  Empire  itself  is  but  a few  millions  greater  than  that  of  the 
lands  which  have  fallen  a prey  to  the  Kaiser’s  armies  or  his  intriguing 
diplomats. 

Germany  can  no  longer  hope  for  victory  on  the  Western  Front.  The 
weight  of  America’s  millions  at  last  is  beginning  to  be  felt,  and  the 
Kaiser’s  legions  are  moving  backward.  But  Germany  has  not  lost  hope 
of  keeping  what  she  has  gained  on  the  Eastern  Front.  She  believes  that 
the  attention  of  the  Allies  can  be  distracted  by  large  concessions  in  the 
West,  and  that  her  diplomats  will  succeed  where  her  armies  have  failed, 
so  that  she  will  be  able  to  retain  her  conquests  to  the  East,  organize  and 
develop  them  with  German  efficiency,  and  then,  when  the  time  is  ripe, 
strike  again  with  a force  which  will  be  irresistible. 

The  lands  which  have  come  under  absolute  German  dominion  as  a 
result  of  the  war  are : * 

Area  in  Sq.  Miles  Population 

Finland  ..144,253  3,000,000 

Esthonia  7,718  .500,000 

Livonia  18,160  1,500,000 

Courland  10,535  750,000 

Kovno  15,687  1,750,000 

In  addition  the  whole  of  Russia  and  Siberia  will  remain  open  to 
German  exploitation  unless  the  Allied  and  Czeeho-Slovak  armies  are 
successful  in  expelling  the  troops  of  the  Central  Powers. 

The  area  of  the  German  Empire  itself  before  the  war  was  but  208,- 
780  square  miles,  and  its  population  was  about  68,000,000.  Austria- 
Hungary,  its  ally  and  practical  vassal,  has  an  area  of  238,977  square 
miles  and  a population  of  about  53,000,000. 

Germany  inveigled  poor  deluded  and  disorganized  Russia  into  a 
peace  on  the  basis  of  no  annexations  and  no  indemnties,  and  then  pro- 
ceeded to  take  what  she  wanted  on  one  pretext  or  another  in  the  guise 
of  setting  up  separate  states  whose  independence  would  be  but  a polit- 
ical fiction.  Finland  she  induced  to  revolt,  and  then  sent  German  troops 
in  to  help  Finland  against  the  Russia  with  which  she  was  at  peace.  The 
result  is  that  Finland  now  is  absolutely  dominated  by  Germany;  the 

♦Figures  from  1910  Edition  of  Encyclopedia  Brittanica,  corrected  and 
estimated  to  round  numbers,  taking  into  account  natural  increase  in  popu- 
lation and  parts  of  provinces,  where  boundaries  are  indefinite. 


Area  in  Sq.  Miles  Population 

Russian  Poland  49,130  11,500,000 


Ukrainia  163,249  26,500,000 

Rumania  50,720  6,850,000 

Serbia  35,000  4,000,000 


494,552  55,250,000 


4 


Our  Peril  on  the  Eastern  Front 


Kaiser’s  troops  are  in  control,  and  plans  are  under  way  to  make  Finland 
an  “independent”  nation  with  a Hohenzollern  prince  on  the  throne. 

The  Russian  provinces  of  Esthonia,  Livonia,  Courland  and  Kovno, 
lying  along  the  Baltic,  Germany  proceeded  to  grab  outright,  and  now 
proposes  to  annex  directly  to  the  German  Empire.  This,  with  German 
domination  of  Finland,  will  make  the  Baltic  practically  a German  lake. 

Poland  is  to  be  another  “independent”  state,  if  the  German  plans  do 
not  miscarry,  with  a German  or  Austrian  prince  as  king.  Ukrainia,  with 
the  exception  of  Poland,  the  richest  part  of  Russia,  is  now  nominally  a 
republic,  but  German  troops  are  in  control  and  already  there  is  talk  of 
making  it  a kingdom  ruled  by  a German  prince.  Rumania  was  forced 
to  make  a peace  which  gave  Germany  practical  control,  and  since  the 
treaty  was  signed  Germany  has  been  making  new  and  harder  conditions 
all  the  time  and  enforcing  them  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet.  Poor  little 
Serbia,  though  its  shattered  armies  are  still  valiantly  fighting,  is  abso- 
lutely overrun  by  the  enemy.  No  doubt  the  peace  terms  for  it  will  be 
harshest  of  all,  unless  Germany  is  beaten  on  the  Western  Front. 

Pause  and  consider  for  a moment  what  these  conquests  mean  if  Ger- 
many is  allowed  to  keep  and  consolidate  them.  From  Finland  and  the 
Russian  provinces  along  the  Baltic  Germany  has  gained  vast  wealth  in 
timber  and  complete  freedom  from  any  rival  trade.  From  Poland  she 
has  gained  a well  developed  industrial  and  agricultural  region,  amply 
able  to  add  greatly  to  her  ability  to  make  war  in  the  future.  From  the 
Ukraine  and  Rumania,  the  grainary  of  Europe,  she  will  have  gained 
cereals  which  would  make  her  independent  of  the  outside  world,  and 
oils  and  minerals  in  such  vast  quantities  that  practically  the  whole  con- 
tinental European  supply  would  be  in  her  grasp.  From  Serbia  she  has 
gained  the  open  door  to  the  Orient  through  her  vassal  states  of  Bulgaria 
and  Turkey. 

From  of  all  these  states  Germany  will  have  gained  an  industrious 
and  virile  population  which,  if  organized  under  the  German  plan,  would 
furnish  an  addition  of  some  8,000,000  men  to  Germany’s  armies.  The 
Central  Powers,  then,  if  allowed  to  keep  these  conquests,  would  be  able, 
after  a few  years  of  rest  and  recuperation,  to  put  an  army  of  30,000,000 
men  in  the  field,  to  feed  and  clothe  them  without  calling  upon  the^out- 
side  world,  and  to  so  dominate  the  avenues  of  communication  that  the 
remainder  of  the  world  would  be  at  their  mercy  when  they  chose  to 
strike  again. 

Laying  aside  all  humanitarian  reasons,  that  is  why  America  and  her 
allies  cannot  afford  to  make  a peace  until  German  militarism  has  been 
destroyed.  Even  if  we  could  stand  by  and  see  fifty  million  people  en- 
slaved in  Eastern  Europe,  we  cannot,  nor  can  any  other  nation  which 
hopes  in  future  to  live  in  peace  and  security,  dare  make  a peace  which 
will  give  an  uncrushed  Germany  an  opportunity  to  organize  such  a vast 
territory  and  population  into  a military  machine  beside  which  the  pres- 
ent German  armies  are  dwarfed,  and  strike  again  for  world  conquest 
when  the  time  is  ripe. 


II 

STRANGLING  OF  RUSSIA  SOUGHT  BY  GERMANY 

Russia,  with  its  millions  of  square  miles  of  undeveloped  territory  in 
Europe  and  Asia,  and  its  remaining  130,000,000  inhabitants,  will  be 
cut  off  from  the  open  sea  and  economically  strangled  by  Germany  if 
the  Kaiser  is  allowed  to  keep  the  vast  territories  he  has  taken  possession 
of  by  force  of  arms  and  intrigue  on  the  Eastern  Front. 

With  Finland  and  the  Baltic  provinces  in  Germany’s  possession, 
Russia  will  be  cut  off  from  the  Baltic  except  for  the  port  of  Petrograd, 
and  there  is  no  assurance  that  Germany,  if  allowed  to  do  so  by  the 
Allies,  will  not  find  some  excuse  for  taking  possession  of  that  city. 

Domination  by  Germany  of  the  Ukraine  and  the  territory  seized  by 
it  with  the  aid  of  German  and  Austrian  troops,  will  cut  Russia  off  from 
the  Black  Sea,  and  communication  with  the  outside  world  by  water  in 
that  direction.  Only  the  Pacific  Ocean,  separated  from  the  main  por- 
tion by  thousands  of  miles  of  railroad,  will  remain  as  an  export  and 
import  outlet  free  from  German  domination. 

Thus  will  the  whole  of  Russia,  the  vastest  field  for  industrial  and 
commercial  development  left  on  the  globe,  be  at  the  mercy  of  German 
exploitation.  Russia  will,  to  all  intents  and  purposes,  have  ceased  to 
be  a European  nation.  It  will  have  no  communication  with  Western 
Europe  except  through  German  controlled  lands.  It  will  not  be«able  to 
ship  its  grain  Westward  except  by  permission  of  Germany.  Nor  will  it 
be  able  to  import  the  vast  amount  of  agricultural  and  industrial  machin- 
ery it  must  have  except  from  Germany  or  through  Germany,  except 
over  the  single-track  8,000-mile  long  Trans-Siberian  Railroad  to  the 
Pacific  Coast. 

Russian  history,  for  ages,  has  been  made  by  the  efforts  of  this  semi- 
Asiatic  people,  endeavoring  to  embrace  European  civilization,  to  expand 
their  territories  toward  warm  water.  It  has  been  counterbalanced  by  the 
German  and  Austrian  “Drang  nach  Osten”  or  “pust  toward  the  East,” 
which  expresses  the  imperialistic  aims  of  the  Teutonic  countries.  They 
have  long  recognized  that  their  future  lay  toward  the  East,  where  the 
lands  were  peopled  by  a Slavic  population  and  were  ripe  for  exploita- 
tion, commercially  or  through  out  and  out  conquest. 

With  the  collapse  of  Russia  as  a military  power  the  great  barrier  to 
the  “Drang  nach  Osten”  is  removed.  Even  in  the  days  before  the  war, 
when  the  Czar  and  his  Cossacks  offered  something  like  real  opposition 
to  German  military  encroachment,  the  German  commercial  interests  had 
penetrated  Russia  to  such  an  extent  that  a large  section  of  the  business 
of  the  Czar’s  empire  was  under  German  control. 


6 


Our  Peril  on  the  Eastern  Front 


No  less  successful  had  been  the  German  secret  propaganda.  Court 
circles,  headed  by  the  German-born  Czarina,  were  notoriously  pro-Ger- 
man. Official  circles  in  the  army  were  affected,  and  such  was  the 
German  hold  on  business  interests  that  the  production  of  war  supplies 
by  Russia  was,  for  a long  time,  almost  impossible. 

If  Germany,  because  of  its  proximity  and  because  of  its  nationally 
supported  spy  and  commercial  systems,  was  able  thus  to  dominate 
Russia  before  the  war,  think  what  it  will  be  able  to  do  now  unless  the 
Allied  nations,  by  a smashing  victory,  force  it  to  disgorge  the  spoils  it 
has  taken  in  the  East. 

The  great  export  ports  of  the  Baltic,  and  the  ports  of  the  Black  Sea 
will  be  in  German  hands  if,  by  any  chicanery,  Germany  can  persuade 
the  victorious  Allies  to  allow  her  to  keep  possession  of  them.  Constan- 
tinople will  be  ruled  by  Germany’s  vassal  state,  Turkey,  unless  the 
Allies  force  Turkey  out  of  Europe.  All  Russian  goods  will  thus  either 
have  to  pass  through  Germany  or  land  controlled  by  Germany  or  take 
the  tremendously  expensive  Pacific  route.  The  Kaiser’s  merchants  will 
have  first  call  on  everything  which  Russia  will  have  to  sell,  and  the 
Kaiser’s  manufacturers  will  have  everything  their  own  way  in  supplying 
the  things  which  Russia  will  need  to  buy. 

German  capital  will  build  Russian  factories  and  railroads,  develop 
Russian  mines  and  forests,  and  furnish  the  machinery  for  Russian  agri- 
culture. German  merchants  will  become  established  all  through  Russia, 
and  will  buy  their  goods  from  Germany.  German  “kultur”  will  be 
imposed  upon  the  Russian  peasant,  and  Germany  as  a whole  will  grow 
rich  through  this  monopoly  of  Russian  trade  and  industry. 

It  may  go  even  further.  Powerful  Germany,  no  doubt,  will  find 
additional  excuses  for  actually  taking  territory  away  from  weak  and 
disorganized  Russia.  Every  time  some  exasperated  Russian  explodes  a 
bomb  under  some  German  diplomat,  the  Kaiser  will  likely  enough  use 
it  as  a pretext  for  seizing  another  Russian  province. 

The  Czar’s  wall  of  Cossacks  has  been  removed.  Nothing  will  re- 
main, unless  German  militarism  is  crushed,  to  prevent  the  more  or  less 
gradual  subjection  of  180,000,000  people  of  non-Teutonic  races,  and 
their  exploitation  for  the  benefit  of  the  German  privileged  class.  Ger- 
many will  see  to  it  that  there  is  no  Eastern  Front  the  next  time  she  sets 
out  to  fight  the  nations  of  Western  Europe  for  complete  domination  of 
the  world. 

Russia  is  a long  ways  from  the  United  States.  Most  of  the  people  of 
America  are  disappointed  with  the  way  Russia  collapsed  and  failed  the 
Allies  in  the  war. 


Our  Peril  on  the  Eastern  Front 


7 


“What  concern  is  it  of  ours  what  happens  to  Russia?”  is  the  question 
one  hears  on  many  sides. 

The  concern  is  just  this: 

A Germany  with  predatory  ideals  allowed  to  despoil  Russia  will 
become  so  powerful  that  no  nation  or  combination  of  nations  can 
oppose  it  when  next  it  is  ready  to  strike. 

It  will  have  ample  funds  for  financing  its  next  world  war. 

It  will  have  such  enormous  resources  that  no  blockade  can  interfere 
with  its  supply  of  food  and  munitions. 

Such  a Germany  is  a direct  menace  to  the  United  States  because  it 
sees  in  this  country  its  greatest  rival  in  world  trade ; and  Germany,  gone 
mad,  cannot  conceive  of  commercial  rivalry  divorced  from  political  and 
military  rivalry.  And  so  when  Germany  strikes  again,  it  will  strike  the 
United  States;  and  one  nation  or  the  other  must  perish. 

The  United  States,  in  common  with  its  Allies,  must  see  to  it  now 
that  no  peace  is  made  with  Germany  which  will  leave  it  in  a position 
ever  to  strike  again  as  it  did  in  August,  1914. 

Therefore  there  can  be  no  peace  until  Germany  has  been  forced  to 
disgorge  all  it  has  gained  on  the  Eastern  Front,  and  more. 


Ill 

GERMANY  STRIPS  RUSSIA  OF  NECESSARY  RESOURCES 

It  is  not  just  square  miles  of  territory  that  Germany  takes  when  she 
wins  a war.  Germany  is  very  careful,  when  she  takes  territory,  to  take 
just  that  part  which  will  most  cripple  her  neighbors,  and  make  them 
least  able  in  future  to  resist  her  aggression  in  a commercial  and  military 
way. 

Thus  in  1870,  when  Germany  had  France  at  her  mercy,  she  took 
Alsace-Lorraine.  These  provinces  contained  what  was  then  thought  to 
be  all  the  iron  ore  deposits  in  France.  Since  then  other  deposits  have 
been  discovered  and  developed  in  the  Briey  basin,  and  now  Germany  is 
seeking  to  take  that  region.  Likewise  all  the  coal  and  iron  of  Belgium 
and  the  coal  of  Northern  France  now  are  in  German  hands. 

So  it  is  with  Russia.  German  leaders  realize  that  the  whole  of  Russia 
cannot  be  taken  over  right  now.  Russia  is  too  vast  to  be  swallowed  and 
digested  all  at  once.  So  Germany  plans  to  take  now  those  portions  of 
Russia  which  are  richest  in  natural  resources  and  industrial  develop- 
ment. Thus  the  remainder  of  the  vast  country  will  be  reduced  to  im- 
potence, and  made  dependent  entirely  upon  Germany  for  the  things 
which  make  for  individual  progress  in  modem  times. 

In  carrying  out  this  policy  the  seizure  of  Poland  and  the  Ukraine 
are  Germany’s  trump  cards  right  now.  Poland,  before  it  was  devastated 
by  the  Germans,  was  the  chief  industrial  region  of  Russia,  and  the 
Ukraine  and  portions  of  the  Caucasus  which  the  Germans  are  trying 
to  control,  contain  the  greatest  part  of  Russia’s  developed  natural 
wealth — coal,  iron,  copper  and  oils — and  in  addition  its  chief  agri- 
cultural resources,  which  four  years  of  short  rations  have  taught  Ger- 
many to  consider  as  important  as  coal  and  iron. 

The  case  of  Poland  is  one  which  particularly  merits  the  attention 
of  the  United  States  and  the  Allied  nations.  Poland  was  a great  nation 
when  the  states  now  composing  the  German  Empire  were  weak  princi- 
palities with  no  sense  of  national  unity.  Despite  more  than  a century 
of  oppression  the  Poles  still  retain  their  language,  their  customs  and 
their  sense  of  national  unity.  They  are  capable  of  being  converted  into 
a strong  and  virile  and  independent  nation,  if  Germany’s  strangle  hold 
can  be  broken,  and  an  independent  Poland  will  do  much  to  block  a 
predatory  Germany’s  military  and  commercial  progress  toward  the  East. 

Poland,  it  will  be  remembered,  at  the  end  of  the  Napoleonic  wars, 
was  partitioned  among  Prussia,  Russia,  and  Austria.  Russia  oppressed 
the  Poles,  sometimes  brutally,  but  made  no  effort  to  cause  them  to  cease 
being  Poles.  Austria  in  the  Polish  province  of  Galicia,  adopted  a more 


Our  Peril  on  the  Eastern  Front 


9 


liberal  attitude,  allowing  the  Polish  language  and  customs  to  be  used, 
and  there  was  comparatively  little  friction.  But  Prussia  set  out  upon  a 
deliberate  policy  to  cause  the  Polish  language  to  be  forgotten,  to  drive 
Poles  from  the  higher  offices  and  finally  to  oust  them  from  ownership 
of  land  and  to  Germanize  that  part  of  Poland  which  fell  to  her  share 
so  completely  that  the  very  name  of  Poland  would  be  forgotten. 

Prussia,  despite  a century  of  persecution,  failed.  But  it  learned  a 
new  lesson.  It  learned  that  a Pole  ceased  to  be  a Pole  only  when  he 
was  dead.  Therefore  when  Germany  overran  Russian  Poland,  it  saw 
to  it  that  there  were  as  many  dead  Poles  as  possible. 

Through  starvation  and  through  deliberate  wholesale  murder  Ger- 
many set  out  to  depopulate  Poland,  and  lay  all  this  region  open  to 
German  immigration  and  colonization.  We  have  ample  testimony  to 
the  effect  that  hundreds  of  thousands  of  Poles  met  death  by  actual  starv- 
ation. The.  factories  in  the  industrial  centers  were  closed,  and  Polish 
workmen  were  forced  to  go  into  Germany  to  work  to  keep  from  starv- 
ing. Germany  would  not  even  let  Polish  mills  grind  Polish  grain,  but 
forced  the  Poles  to  ship  their  grain  to  Germany  to  be  milled,  and  then 
whateveF  flour  Germany  did  not  seize,  was  shipped  back  to  the  people 
who  grew  the  grain. 

It  is  plain  that  Germany,  if  allowed  to  keep  possession  of  all 
Poland,  plans  so  to  destroy  the  nation  that  there  will  no  longer  be  a 
compact  Polish  people  with  national  aspirations  able  to  oppose  it. 
Poland  is  to  be  colonized  from  Germany  and  its  industrial  resources 
allowed  to  reopen  only  when  they  have  been  thoroughly  Germanized. 

The  United  States,  aside  from  the  threat  to  its  future  safety  if  a 
predatory  Germany  is  allowed  to  extend  its  empire,  will  see  a great 
nation — one  which  has  fought  for  freedom  as  valiantky  as  America 
itself  did — practically  wiped  off  the  face  of  the  earth  unless  the  Kaiser’s 
hold  on  Poland  is  broken. 

Ukrainia  furnishes  the  greater  part  of  the  iron  and  coal  for  all 
European  Russia.  It  furnishes  most  of  Russia’s  vast  wheat  exports — 
more  than  enough  to  make  Germany  independent  of  the  rest  of  the 
world.  It  furnishes  the  greater  part  of  Russian  sugar,  of  Russian  oil 
and  Russian  copper.  If  Germany  is  allowed  to  take  possession  of  all 
these,  Russia  would  be  placed  in  a position  where  she  never  again  could 
assert  her  rights  against  Germany.  The  German  Empire  would  be 
practically  doubled  in  population,  more  than  doubled  in  area,  and 
would  have  a monopoly  on  the  iron  with  which  to  make  shells  and  on 
the  oils  so  indispensable  for  modern  war.  Italy  is  without  metals. 
France  will  be  if  Germany  can  keep  only  a little  French  territory  and 
Belgium.  Russia  will  be  practically  so,  if  Germany  keeps  what  it  has 


10 


Our  Peril  on  the  Eastern  Front 


in  its  clutches  right  now.  Nowhere  in  Continental  Europe  will  there  be 
a nation  with  fuel  and  iron  to  wage  a war  of  self  defense,  and  in  times 
of  peace  they  will  all  be  at  the  commercial  mercy  of  a soulless  Ger- 
many. 

The  result  will  be  that  only  England  and  the  United  States  will 
remain  of  the  great  nations  with  fuel  and  iron  at  their  disposal.  Ger- 
many will  have  140,000,000  people  to  draw  upon  for  soldiers  instead 
of  70,000,000.  Another  hundred  million  will  be  available  to  Germany 
through  Turkey  and  the  enlarged  Austria  and  Bulgaria,  which  are  even 
now  Germany’s  vassals. 

No  nation  will  be  in  a position  to  resist  the  mighty  forces  that  a 
predatory  Germany  would  be  able  to  throw  into  the  field  for  the  next 
war — perhaps  twenty  years  hence.  No  other  Continental  nation  would 
be  able  to  furnish  the  raw  material  for  its  own  guns  and  shells.  Ger- 
many, if  the  Allies  do  not  prevent  it  by  force,  would  simply  consolidate 
its  present  conquests,  organize  and  train  their  manhood,  and,  when  it 
is  ready,  set  out  to  conquer  all  Europe  and  Asia,  and  perhaps  even 
America. 

The  United  States  cannot  afford  to  let  predatory  and  soulless  Ger- 
many remain  in  this  commanding  position.  Leaving  aside  all  motives 
of  humanity  and  regard  for  the  rights  of  other  peoples,  it  must,  if  it 
itself  hopes  to  continue  to  exist  as  a free  republic,  continue  this  war  un- 
til this  German  power  for  aggression  is  shattered  completely  for  all 
time. 


IV 

MUST  FREE  OPPRESSED  PEOPLES  OF  AUSTRIA 


Austria-Hungary  must  be  dismembered  before  the  United  States  and 
its  Allies  can  make  a lasting  peace  with  Germany. 

This  may  seem  a startling  assertion,  in  view  of  the  fact  that  this 
country  did  not  declare  war  on  Austria-Hungary  until  months  after  it 
was  drawn  into  the  conflict  with  Germany,  and  that  now,  as  always, 
Germany  is  recognized  as  our  chief  enemy.  One  might  ask,  “Why  not 
dismember  Germany?”,  and  many  probably  will  so  ask  unless  they  stop 
to  think  what  the  objects  of  this  war  really  are. 

In  the  first  place  this  is  a war  of  democracy  against  autocracy. 

The  cardinal  principle  of  democracy  is  that  the  people  of  any  given 
nationality  shall  have  the  right  to  choose  their  own  form  of  government. 

Austria-Hungary  is  not  a nation  in  the  true  sense  of  the  word.  It  is 
a conglomeration  of  peoples  of  several  races  and  tongues  ruled  against 
their  will  by  two  dominant  races — the  Germans  and  Magyars — under  a 
historically  corrupt  and  incompetent  dynasty'. 

These  subject  peoples,  mostly  Slavic  in  blood,  constitute  a clear 
majority  of  the  population  of  Austria  and  almost  half  that  of  Hungary, 
yet  they  have  no  voice  in  choosing  their  form  of  government.  If  they 
dared  raise  their  voices  some  would  choose  union  with  Italy,  some  with 
a greater  Serbia  or  Poland,  some  union  with  Rumania  and  some  abso- 
lute independence*  according  to  their  race  and  geographical  location. 

The  sam^  cannot  be  said  of  Germany.  Barring  rather  restricted 
areas  peopled  by  unwilling  subjects,  such  as  the  Poles  to  the  East  and 
the  inhabitants  of  Alsace-Lorraine  on  the  West,  which  must  be  lopped 
off  when  the  peace  treaty  is  written,  the  German  Empire  consists  of  a 
homogeneous  people  of  the  same  race  and  national  aspirations.  While 
it  may  be  necessary  to  assist  in  a change  in  the  form  of  government 
which  will  enable  this  people  to  get  rid  of  the  Hohenzollern  and  the 
military  aristocracy,  any  enforced  division  of  the  German  Empire  itself 
which  would  place  portions  of  its  inhabitants  under  foreign  domination 
would  be  doing  the  very  thing  which  the  United  States  and  her  allies 
are  fighting  against — it  would  be  denying  a people  the  right  to  choose 
for  themselves  the  state  of  which  they  shall  form  a part. 

That  is  why  we  hear  no  agitation  for  the  dismemberment  of  Ger- 
many— our  arch  enemy — while  the  conviction  grows  more  and  more 
that  Austria-Hungary,  that  unfortunate  monarchy,  must  be  disrupted 
at  the  conference  table  at  which  the  peace  treaty  is  written,  if  it  does 
not  fall  apart  itself  before  that  time. 

“How,  then,  is  the  dismemberment  of  Austria-Hungary  necessarily 


12 


Our  Peril  on  the  Eastern  Front 


involved  in  any  consideration  of  the  ambitions  of  the  predatory  Ger- 
many that  brought  on  this  war?”  one  may  inquire. 

It  already  has  been  shown  how  Germany  must  be  forced  to  restore 
all  that  she  has  taken  from  Russia  either  to  Russia  or  to  allow  the 
peoples  of  these  territories  to  form  their  own  independent  govern- 
ments. It  has  been  demonstrated  that  Poland,  when  erected  into  a free 
state,  with  no  hint  of  domination,  will  be  a powerful  barrier  to  German 
military  and  political  expansion  to  the  Eastward. 

The  setting  free  of  the  oppressed  peoples  of  Austria-Hungary,  and 
the  giving  to  them  permission  to  unite  with  nations  already  in  existence 
with  which  they  have  national  sympathies,  or  to  form  their  own  inde- 
pendent governments,  as  the  case  may  be,  will  complete  that  barrier  and 
forever  bar  Germany  from  forcible  expansion  to  the  Southeast. 

A free  Bohemia  will  take  its  place  beside  a free  Poland  as  a buffer 
between  Germany  and  disorganized  Russia.  A restored  and  strength- 
ened Rumania,  with  the  millions  of  Rumanians  added  to  those  now 
nominally  independent,  will  extend  the  barrier  to  the  Black  Sea,  pro- 
vided Ukrainia  is  fred  from  German  domination.  A Greater  Serbia, 
with  the  millions  of  Jugo-Slavs  in  the  southern  parts  of  Austria  and 
Hungary  incorporated  in  it,  will  be  an  effectual  block  to  Germany’s 
military  oneness  with  Bulgaria  and  Turkey. 

Thus,  and  only  thus  will  the  German  dream  of  a Mittel-Europa 
extending  from  the  Baltic  to  the  Persian  Gulf,  and  opening  the  way  for 
further  conquests  in  India  and  the  Orient,  to  be  followed  by  a world 
domination,  be  brought  to  an  end.  Only  thus  will  the  German  people 
be  shown  that  their  rulers  who  have  promised  them  the  spoils  of  a 
conquered  world,  have  misled  them,  and  that  their  future  lies  not  in 
military  and  political  expansion  but  in  thrift  and  industry  and  legiti- 
mate commerce  which  other  nations  of  the  world  can  respect. 

Austria-Hungary,  as  now  constituted,  and  Bulgaria  and  Turkey  have 
been  reduced  to  a state  of  vassalage  by  Germany  as  completely  as 
though  they  had  been  conquered  by  force  of  arms.  Austria-Hungary 
could  not  make  a separate  peace  if  she  wanted  to  as  long  as  Germany 
remains  unbeaten  on  the  Western  Front.  If  she  could  do  so  and  pre- 
serve her  rule  over  the  peoples  she  now  oppresses,  she  probably  would 
be  glad  to  do  so.  But  the  time  for  that  has  gone  by.  She  would  be 
overrun  by  Germany  in  a week  if  she  tried  it,  and  the  Allied  nations 
have  already  recognized  the  fact  that  any  peace,  to  be  lasting,  must 
remove  the  causes  of  friction.  The  chief  cause  of  friction  in  Southeast- 
ern Europe  now  is,  and  has  been  for  centuries,  the  struggles  of  op- 
pressed peoples  to  escape  from  their  oppressors.  There  must  be  no 


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13 


more  oppressors,  or,  in  time,  the  war  will  have  to  be  fought  all  over 
again. 

President  Wilson  has  declared  unequivocally  for  the  right  of  self- 
determination  of  peoples  as  one  of  the  conditions  of  peace.  The  Allied 
Council  of  Versailles  in  June,  1918,  pronounced  in  favor  of  giving  the 
oppressed  peoples  of  Slavic  blood  held  in  bondage  by  Austria  their 
liberties. 

Both  the  President  and  the  Allied  diplomats  at  Versailles  realized 
that  this  war,  on  which  so  much  blood  and  treasure  has  been  spent, 
when  it  is  settled  must  be  settled  on  the  basis  of  right.  They  see,  and 
every  American  should  see,  that,  if  it  is  not  thus  settled,  the  struggle 
will  have  to  be  faced  once  more,  after  Germany  and  her  allies  have  had 
time  to  recuperate,  and  that  when  Germany,  if  allowed  to  keep  its 
Eastern  conquests  and  complete  the  organization  of  her  vassal  states,  is 
ready  to  strike  again  she  will  strike  in  a way  that  the  world  cannot 
successfully  resist. 


V 

MILLIONS  IN  AUSTRIA  HELD  IN  BONDAGE 

Considerably  more  than  half  of  all  tKe  people  in  Austria-Hungary 
are  held  in  bondage — in  practical  servitude  against  their  will — by  the 
two  dominant  races,  the  Germans  of  Austria  and  the  Magyars  of  Hun- 
gary. 

These  bond-people  of  Austria-Hungary  represent  eleven  national 
groups,  and  though  they  form  a clear  majority  of  the  population,  have 
so  little  voice  in  the  affairs  of  the  empire  that  they  might  as  well  be 
said  to  have  none  at  all.  All  are  clamoring  for  their  freedom,  and  all 
would  fight  for  it  were  they  given  a chance.  But  few  remain  at  home 
now  except  the  decrepit  old  men,  the  women  and  the  children.  Their 
able-bodied  men  are  drafted  into  the  army  and  forced  to  fight  against 
their  will.  Thousands  are  deserting,  but  so  complete  is  the  discipline 
that  the  majority  of  them  must  remain,  sandwiched  in  between  Hungar- 
ians and  Germans,  until  the  ramshackle  empire  falls  to  pieces  or  is 
dismembered  at  the  peace  council  table. 

In  1910,  the  time  of  taking  the  last  census  before  the  war,  there  were 
in  Austria  proper  9,950,266  Germans  belonging  to  the  dominant  race 
of  the  Austrian  half  of  the  dual  monarchy  and  10,050,575  Magyars 
formed  the  dominant  race  in  Hungary.  They  ruled  over  the  following 


subject  peoples:* 

Czecho-Slovaks  

Poles  

In  Austria 

6,435,983 

4,967,984 

In  Hungary 
1,967,970 

Little  Russians  

Slovenians 

3,518,854 

1,252,940 

472,587 

Serbo-Croatians  

Italians 

783,344 

768,422 

2,939,638 

Rumanians  

275,115 

2,949,027 

In  Austria  the  German  population,  numbering  only  35.58  per  cent, 
has  a clear  majority  in  parliament,  and  treats  the  Slavs  and  Latins  as 
inferior  peoples.  In  Hungary  the  Magyar  population  outnumbers  the 
Slavs  only  slightly,  but  gives  them  few  political  rights. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  little  over  half  a century  ago  the  Mag- 
yars themselves  were  engaged  in  a terrific  struggle  for  liberty,  and  were 
only  subdued  by  Austria  through  the  assistance  of  the  then  Czar  of 
Russia.  The  dual  monarchy  was  then  formed,  and  the  Magyars  were 
placated  by  the  granting  to  them  rule  over  portions  of  the  various  Slav 
races.  From  a people  battling  for  freedom  they  have  since  been  trans- 
formed into  a people  who  apparently  enjoy  the  oppression  of  others  as 

•Statistics  from  the  Statesman’s  Year  Book,  1917,  census  of  1910.  These 
are  official  statistics,  which  favor  the  rulfng  nations.  For  instance,  nearly 
all  the  1,300,000  Jews  in  Austria  are  classed  as  Germans,  while  in  Hungary 
not  only  the  Jews,  numbering  960,000,  but  almost  everyone  else  able  to 
"'speak  the  Magyar  language,  are  classed  as  Magyars. 


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15 


much  as  the  Germans  themselves. 

Most  of  the  Slavs  in  the  dual  monarchy  came  under  the  Hapsburg 
rule  originally,  because  of  the  invasion  of  Europe  by  the  Turks.  The 
Holy  Roman  Empire,  of  which  Austria  is  the  decrepit  descendant,  was 
the  bulwark  of  Europe  against  Mohammedanism  in  those  days. 

Bohemia,  threatened  with  Mohammedan  conquest,  allowed  herself  to 
fall  into  the  power  of  the  Hapsburgs.  Hungary  was  “rescued”  from  the 
Turk.  As  the  years  and  centuries  went  on  other  territories  were  “freed,” 
the  last  ones  to  be  thus  liberated  being  Bosnia  and  Herzegovina,  which 
were  only  formally  incorporated  into  the  Austrian  empire  in  1909.  The 
inhabitants  of  these  two  provinces  are  almost  purely  Serbian  in  blood 
and  language,  and  the  seizing  of  them  by  Austria  would  in  all  likeli- 
hood have  provoked  a world  war  at  that  time  had  it  not  been  for  the 
fact  that  Russia,  the  protector  of  the  little  Slav  nationalities,  was  so 
weakened  by  the  Japanese  war  and  torn  by  revolutionary  movements 
that  it  dared  not  to  take  up  arms. 

Bohemia,  with  the  neighboring  provinces  of  Moravia  and  Slovakia 
forming  the  most  compact  and  numerous  group  of  Slavs  in  the  em- 
pire, familiarly  known  as  Czecho-Slovaks,  was,  before  the  war,  the  best 
educated,  the  most  prosperous  and  the  most  highly  developed  part  of 
Austria-Hungary,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  the  Bohemians  were  under 
the  domination  of  the  Germans  of  the  empire.  They  clung  tenaciously, 
however,  to  their  desire  for  freedom,  and  when  the  war  broke  out  Bo- 
hemia was  soon  a seething  mass  of  suppressed  revolt. 

Five  years  ago  it  might  have  been  possible  to  placate  the  Slav  races 
of  Austria-Hungary  by  giving  them  equal  rights  with  their  German  and 
Magyar  oppressors.  Now  it  would  be  impossible.  The  avenue  of 
expansion  for  Germany  to  the  Southeast  must  be  closed  forever.  The 
just  national  aspirations  of  oppressed  peoples  must  be  satisfied,  or  the 
Balkan  problem  will  remain  after  this  war  just  what  it  was  before,  a 
continual  menace  to  the  peace  of  the  world. 

It  was  this  Balkan  unrest  which  brought  about  the  Sarajevo  murders 
and  which  gave  the  pretext  for  this  war.  All  the  Central  Powers  were 
looking  for  was  a pretext.  They  will  continue  to  look  for  pretexts  in 
the  future  unless  their  military  power  is  shattered  completely  and  the 
idea  that  they  can  enforce  their  will  on  subject  races  is  removed  forever. 

Already  the  experience  of  the  Central  Powers  in  subjecting  other 
nations,  a bit  at  a time,  has  been  such  that  they  now  think  they  can 
treat  the  whole  world  that  way.  For  half  a century  they  have  been 
getting  ready  for  this  course  of  action.  Now  they  have  definitely  em- 
barked on  it.  They  have  in  their  grasp  conquered  territory  and  subject 
populations  of  sufficient  magnitude  to  assure  them  of  practical  success 
if  they  are  allowed  to  keep  what  they  have  gained. 

They  must  give  up  all  they  have  won  and  more  or  no  spot  on  the 
earth  will  be  safe  from  their  aggression  in  the  future. 


VI 

AUSTRIAN  SLAVS  DIE  BY  THOUSANDS  FOR  ALLIES 

“If  the  Austrian  Slavs  want  their  freedom  so  badly,  why  don’t  they 
fight  for  it?  Why  should  we  be  fighting  for  their  freedom?” 

The  answer  to  the  first  question  is  that  the  Austrian  Slavs,  thousands 
and  tens  of  thousands  of  them,  ARE  fighting  for  their  freedom,  and 
fighting  more  heroically,  if  possible,  than  the  people  of  any  other 
nation.  They  are  fighting  with  the  French  on  the  West  Front,  and  with 
the  Italians;  they  are  fighting  with  the  Serbs  in  the  Balkans,  and  they 
are  fighting  alone,  surrounded  by  hostile  millions,  in  Russia. 

Wherever  the  Slav  from  Austria  fights,  he  fights  under  conditions 
more  appalling  than  those  of  any  other  soldier.  Like  other  Allies,  he 
takes  the  chance  of  death  as  he  goes  into  battle,  but  he  takes  more. 

If  his  army  is  forced  to  retreat,  the  wounded  Austrian  Slav  knows  that 
death  is  his  portion  if  he  falls  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy.  He  will 
be  executed  as  a traitor,  because,  originally  he  came  from  Austria. 
Other  wounded  may,  or  may  not,  be  given  medical  attention  and 
allowed  to  eke  out  a miserable  existence  in  a prison  camp,  but  the  fate 
of  the  captured  Austrian  Slav,  be  he  wounded  or  unwounded,  is  death. 

At  the  outbreak  of  the  war,  in  1914,  it  was  plain  that  the  Slavs  in 
the  Austrian  armies  would  not  willingly  fight  against  the  Entente  Allies. 
The  Germans  knew  it  and  the  Magyars  knew  it.  They  controlled  the 
government,  and  they  at  once  took  steps  to  see  to  it  that  the  soldiers  . 
from  Bohemia,  Moravia,  Croatia,  Slavonia,  and  Bosnia,  who  numbered 
hundreds  of  thousands,  were  so  intermixed  with  German  and  Magyar 
regiments  that  they  always  formed  a helpless  minority. 

All  the  disagreeable  tasks — the  dirty  work — of  the  army  were  given 
to  these  Slav  troops.  They  were  constantly  watched,  and  constantly 
abused.  They  were  put  into  the  firing  line  where  artillery  fire  was 
hottest,  and  deliberately  used  as  cannon  fodder.  When  they  went  “over 
the  top”  in  a charge  they  went  in  small  bodies,  sandwiched  in  between 
Germans  and  Magyars,  instead  of  in  whole  divisions  and  army  corps. 

But  all  of  these  precautions  could  not  prevent  the  Slav  soldiers  from 
carrying  out  their  purpose  to  desert  to  the  Entente  Allies  wherever  pos- 
sible. Individuals,  small  groups,  and  even,  on  occasion,  whole  regi- 
ments passed  over  to  the  Serbs  and  the  Russians,  not  to  seek  security  in 
internment  camps,  but  to  turn  and  fight  their  Austrian  oppressors. 
More  than  once  Czech  regiments  revolted,  and  were  shot  down  in  cold 
blood  by  German  and  Magyar  troops.  Hundreds  were  mown  down  in 
pitched  battles  by  machine  gun  fire,  and  others  were  executed  by  firing 
squads. 


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17 


Nevertheless,  at  the  time  Austria  was  making  its  first  big  invasion 
of  Serbia,  enough  Slav  soldiers  deserted  to  contribute  very  greatly  to 
the  Austrian  debacle  and  disastrous  retreat.  The  same  was  true  on  the 
Russian  front  when  the  Russians  were  making  their  great  drives  through 
Galicia.  It  was  plain  that  the  Austrian  troops  could  not  stand  before 
the  Russians  because  so  many  of  the  Austria-Hungarian  soldiers  were 
of  Slav  blood,  and  would  not  fight  their  friends. 

So  numerous  were  these  desertions  to  the  Russians  that  it  was  esti- 
mated, at  the  time  of  the  ignominious  peace  that  Germany  forced  on 
Russia,  that  there  were  from  60,000  to  100,000  of  them  in  the  Russian 
army.  The  Bolshevist  government  first  agreed  to  permit  these  forces, 
now  generally  spoken  of  as  Czecho-Slovaks,  to  keep  their  arms,  and 
to  transport  them  to  Vladivostock,  on  the  Pacific  Ocean,  some  9,000 
miles  from  the  fighting  front,  that  they  might  embark  for  a journey 
around  the  world  to  appear  as  foes  of  Germany  on  the  Western  Front. 
Great  Britain  made  plans  to  furnish  the  ships. 

But  Germany  interfered.  It  caused  the  Bolshevist  government  to 
rescind  this  order  of  safe  conduct,  and  to  interpose  armed  resistance  to 
the  efforts  of  the  Czecho-Slovaks  to  reach  the  Pacific.  It  went  further 
and  induced  the  Bolshevist  government  to  arm  German  and  Austrian 
prisoners  in  Siberia  to  assist  the  disorganized  Russian  forces  which 
were  unable  to  stay  the  eastward  mach  of  the  Czecho-Slovak  armies. 

That  is  how  the  Czecho-Slovak  forces  which  we  hear  so  much  of 
today  came  to  be  in  Siberia.  Nothing  in  all  history  approaches  the 
heroism  of  these  little  bands.  Surrounded  by  enemies  in  overwhelming 
numbers  they  continued  to  fight  their  way  eastward.  City  after  city 
in  Siberia  fell  into  their  hands.  They  fought  the  Russians  and  they 
fought  the  German  and  Austrian  veterans  whom  the  Russians  armed. 
They  won  battles  against  overwhelming  forces,  and  they  are  still  hold- 
ing out,  though  thousands  of  miles  from  home  and  ringed  by  enemies. 
Their  sole  desire  was  to  get  back  to  the  battle  front,  even  by  a journey 
around  the  world,  that  they  may  fight  with  the  Allies  and  help  to 
liberate  their  helpless  relatives  at  home. 

These  are  the  heroes  that  the  Italian,  French  and  English  govern- 
ments have  recognized  as  the  army  of  an  independent  and  allied  nation 
and  that  the  United  States  and  Japan  are  now  moving  to  aid  in  Siberia. 
We  cannot  permit  the  Russians  to  hand  tens  of  thousands  of  them  over 
to  the  Central  Powers  for  certain  execution,  any  more  than  we  can  per- 
mit the  Central  Powers  permanently  to  control  Russia  and  Siberia. 

Thousands  of  these  Czecho-Slovaks  have  died  fighting  for  the  Allied 
cause.  Thousands  of  others  have  died  the  death  of  traitors  because 
they  would  not  fight  the  Allies.  Thousands  more,  held  down  by  the 


18 


Our  Peril  on  the  Eastern  Front 


severest  terrorism  the  world  has  ever  known,  are  only  waiting  for  an 
opportunity  to  desert  and  join  the  Allied  armies. 

They  have  proved,  beyond  all  question,  their  willingness  to  fight 
for  their  own  freedom  at  every  opportunity.  After  such  heroic  proof 
would  it  not  be  the  basest  ingratitude  for  the  Allied  nations  to  make  a 
peace  which  did  not  free  from  bondage  the  Bohemians,  the  Slovaks,  the 
Croats,  the  Serbs,  and  all  other  groups  which  are  held  against  their 
will  in  Austria-Hungary? 

Our  President  has  said  that  we  are  fighting  to  make  the  world  safe 
for  Democracy.  There  can  be  no  democracy  in  Southeastern  Europe 
as  long  as  millions  of  Slavs  are  held  in  bondage,  and  there  can  be  no 
lasting  peace  until  these  loyal  friends  of  the  Allied  cause  are  erected 
into  strong  independent  nations  and  the  German  plan  of  expansion  to 
the  eastward  is  definitely  blocked. 


APPENDIX 

The  Slav  Peoples,  Who  They  Are,  Where  They  Live, 
and  Their  Historic  Claims  to  Independent  Existence 
THE  CZECHO  SLOVAKS 

The  word,  “Czecho-Slovak,”  is  a comparatively  new  one,  brought 
into  general  use  since  the  Russian  revolution.  It  has  been  called  to  the 
attention  of  a wondering  world  by  that  little  band  of  fighters  who,  since 
the  East  Front  crumbled  away  in  the  great  Russian  collapse,  have  been 
the  principal  barrier  to  German  penetration  of  the  vast  interior  of  that 
once  mighty  empire. 

Czech  and  Slovak  are  different  forms  of  the  same  ancient  Slav  word. 
The  Czechs  and  the  Slovaks  are  the  same  people  in  blood  and  in  lan- 
guage, but  have  been  struggling  along  for  centuries  under  different  op- 
pressors. The  Czechs  inhabiting  Bohemia  and  Moravia  have  been  under 
Austrian  rule  for  some  four  hundred  years,  and  those  in  Silesia  have 
long  been  subject  to  Germany.  The  Slovaks,  on  the  contrary,  are  the 
inhabitants  of  the  province  of  Slovakia,  which  has  been  long  under 
Magyar  domination  in  Hungary,  and  of  a portion  of  the  province  of 
Galicia,  which  is  likewise  inhabited  by  Poles  and  Ruthenes. 

The  Czechs  number  some  six  and  a half  millions,  and  the  Slovaks 
something  like  two  and  a half  millions.  They  composed  the  Slav  tribes 
which,  centuries  ago,  penetrated  furthest  into  middle  Europe.  It  was 
they  who  most  strenuously  resisted  pressure  from  the  East  when  the 
Huns — those  amateurs  whom  Attila  led — invaded  Europe,  and  from  the 
West  when  the  Germans,  who  in  this  Twentieth  Century  of  Christianity 
have  given  a new  meaning  to  the  word  “Hun,”  first  began  to  exercise  the 
“Drang  nach  Osten”  which  today  has  set  the  world  aflame.  The  result 
is  that  they  were  cut  off  from  their  Slav  brothers  to  the  South  by  the 
German  wedge  and  the  Hungarian  wedge  which  came  together  on  the 
border  between  Austria  and  Hungary. 

The  Czecho-Slovaks  remain  a Slavic  wedge  extending  far  into  the 
heart  of  Teutonic  Mittel-Europa.  Their  sons  are  fighting  in  the  armies 
of  all  the  Allied  nations,  while  the  Czecho-Slovak  army  in  Russia  and 
Siberia  has  conducted  itself  with  so  much  bravery  and  diplomatic  wis- 
dom as  well  that  it  has  been  recognized  as  a belligerent  by  Britain, 
France,  Italy  and  finally  by  the  United  States. 

Away  back  in  the  middle  of  the  Fourteenth  century  Prague,  the 
capital  of  Bohemia,  became  the  seat  of  one  of  the  earliest  of  the  great 
universities  of  Middle  Europe.  Bohemia’  was  famous  for  the  learning 
and  prosperity  of  its  people,  students  going  there  from  all  Europe  to 
absorb  the  culture  that  had  ebbed  so  low  elsewhere  because  of  the 
feudal  wars  and  the  instability  of  governments.  A good  illustration  of 
the  commanding  position  Bohemia  had  obtained  in  educational  matters 
is  the  fact  that  in  1638  Johann  Amos  Comenius,  noted  Bohemian  relig- 
ious leader  and  secular  educator,  was  called  by  the  government  of  Swe- 
den to  set  up  a scheme  for  the  management  of  the  schools  of  that  coun- 
try, and  a few  years  later  was  invited  to  join  a commission  that  the 
English  parliament  then  intended  to  appoint  to  reform  the  system  of 
education  in  England. 

For  two  centuries  Bohemia  maintained  its  lead  in  the  intellectual 
awakening  which  was  overspreading  Europe. 

In  1526  the  Czechs  and  the  Austrians,  both  menaced  by  the  Turks, 


entered  into  an  alliance  on  terms  of  equality,  with  the  Hapsburgs  as 
joint  rulers;  but  almost  immediately  the  Hapsburgs  began  to  treat  Bo- 
hemia as  a subject  province.  In  1618  the  Czechs  rose  in  revolt  and  were 
crushed  in  a disastrous  defeat  in  1620.  The  Austrian  Germans  uprooted 
the  Czech  aristocracy  and  filled  their  places  with  foreign  adventurers, 
and  the  Czech  nation,  as  a nation,  practically  ceased  to  exist. 

Little  was  heard  of  the  Czech  nation  for  more  than  two  hundred 
years.  Its  very  memory  almost  was  lost.  But,  in  the  middle  of  the 
Nineteenth  Century  there  was  a renaissance  of  national  feeling.  In 
spite  of  all  persecutions  and  repressive  measures  the  sterling  Czech 
character  again  asserted  itself,  and  Bohemia,  as  of  old,  once  more  be- 
came a seat  of  learning.  The  percentage  of  illiteracy  in  Bohemia  is 
lower  than  anywhere  else  in  Austria-Hungary,  and  even  lower  than  in 
Germany  itself.  Industrially  Bohemia  became  the  most  developed  and 
prosperous  part  of  Austria-Hungary,  and  remained  so  until  the  out- 
break of  the  world  war. 

In  spite  of  many  provocations  Bohemia  remained  essentially  loyal 
to  the  Hapsburgs  during  the  latter  half  of  the  Nineteenth  century.  It 
began  to  clamor  for  its  rights,  but  would  have  been  satisfied  with  equal- 
ity within  the  Austro-Hungarian  Empire. 

For  twenty  years  or  more,  however,  there  has  been  a growing  feel- 
ing among  the  Czechs  and  Slovaks  that  they  could  never  hope  for  justice 
from  their  German  and  Hungarian  oppressors,  who,  with  the  greatest 
severity,  tried  to  crush  out  all  revival  of  national  feeling.  More  and 
more  they  were  convinced  that  only  absolute  independence  would  ever 
bring  them  the  justice  to  which  they  were  entitled. 

Thus  it  was  that  the  opening  of  the  world  war  found  the  Czecho- 
slovaks ripe  for  revolt.  They  were,  of  course,  drafted  into  the  Austro- 
Hungarian  armies,  like  all  other  peoples  within  the  dual  monarchy,  but 
they  would  not  willingly  fight  their  Slav  brothers  in  Russia  and  Serbia. 
They  seized  every  opportunity  to  surrender,  but  not  from  cowardice,  for 
they  immediately  enlisted  in  the  armies  of  the  foes  of  the  Central  Pow- 
ers. Even  when  Russia  collapsed  the  Czecho-Slovaks  continued  to  fight 
with  great  bravery — -a  bravery  which  has  at  last  won  them  recognition 
from  the  Allied  powers — a recognition  which  virtually  amounts  to  a 
declaration  that  the  terms  of  peace  which  the  nations  of  the  Entente 
Alliance  will  impose  will  insist  on  the  creation  of  an  independent 
Czecho-Slovakia. 

The  United  States  was  the  last  of  the  great  powers  among  the  Entente 
Allies  to  grant  this  recognition,  having  acted  on  September  3,  1918.  Its 
recognition  of  the  Czecho-Slovak  State,  however,  went  further  than  that 
of  any  of  the  other  powers  in  that  it  recognized  the  Czecho-Slovak  Na- 
tional Council  as  the  de  facto  government  of  this  new  state,  and  ac- 
corded to  Thomas  G.  Masaryk,  president  of  this  council,  who  is  making 
his  headquarters  in  Washington,  the  right  to  represent  the  Czecho-Slo- 
vaks in  a diplomatic  way  with  the  American  government. 

The  moral  qualities  and  political  sagacity  of  the  Bohemians  are  tes- 
tified to  by  the  fact  that  in  1871  the  Bohemian  Diet,  alone  among  the 
representative  deliberative  bodies  of  the  world,  had  the  wisdom  and 
courage  to  protest  against  the  seizure  of  Alsace-Lorraine  by  Prussia. 

THE  JUGO  SLAVS 

“Jugo”  is  the  Slav  word  for  “South.”  The  Jugo-Slavs  are  the  Slavs 
who  were  cut  off  from  their  more  northerly  brothers  by  the  Huns  and 


the  Germans.  They,  at  one  time,  inhabited  practically  all  the  Balkans 
and  that  portion  of  Southern  Hungary  and  Austria  around  the  Adriatic 
Sea,  extending  clear  to  the  Alps  at  what  is  now  the  Italian  frontier. 

It  was  these  Southern  Slavs  who  felt  the  full  force  of  the  Turkish 
invasion  of  Europe.  For  centuries  those  who  resided  in  Bulgaria 
and  Serbia  languished  under  Turkish  rule.  In  the  Fourteenth  and 
Fifteenth  centuries  there  were  what  almost  amounted  to  national  migra- 
tions into  the  lands  of  Austria  and  Hungary.  The  migrating  Slavs  were 
welcomed  by  the  Hapsburgs,  and  were  promised  lands  and  an  autono- 
mous government  time  and  again.  They  were  permitted  to  form  the 
border  guard  against  the  Turks  and  to  do  most  of  the  hard  fighting,  but 
they  never  reaped  their  reward.  They  were  used,  time  and  again  by  the 
Hapsburgs,  as  pawns  in  their  various  controversies  with  the  Magyars, 
and  time  after  time,  after  they  had  loyally  helped  to  keep  the  Magyars 
in  subjection,  they  were  handed  over  to  the  latter  for  persecution  in  a 
settlement  to  appease  Magyar  anger. 

In  the  Nineteenth  Century,  after  the  Serbs  in  Serbia  had  obtained 
their  freedom  from  Turkey,  their  blood  brothers  under  the  Austro-Hun- 
garian yoke  began  to  look  to  them  for  the  freedom  which  they  had  never 
been  able  to  obtain  from  the  Hapsburgs.  This  resulted  in  more  and 
more  persecution  from  the  Magyars  of  Hungary  and  the  Germans  of 
Austria  until,  at  the  time  of  the  outbreak  of  the  war,  the  Jugo-Slavs, 
likewise,  were  ripe  for  revolt,  and,  like  the  Czecho-Slovaks  farther 
north,  refused,  wherever  possible,  to  fight  in  the  Austrian  armies. 

At  present  the  Jugo-Slavs — some  12,000,000  in  number — inhabit  the 
Austrian  provinces  of  Goritzia,  along  the  Italian  border,  the  neighbor- 
ing provinces  of  Carniola  and  Istria  and  part  of  Styria;  Croatia  and 
Slavonia  in  Hungary,  Dalmatia  and  Bosnia  and  Herzegovina,  as  well  as 
Serbia  proper  and  Montenegro.  Along  the  Adriatic  Sea  there  is  a little 
fringe  of  Italian  population,  especially  in  Trieste  and  a few  other  cities, 
but  the  great  mass  of  population  is  Slavic. 

All  of  this  territory,  united  under  one  Slav  government — a greater 
Serbian  kingdom  of  republic,  as  the  case  may  be— would  form  a state 
of  sufficient  size  and  population  to  check  effectually  the  German  dream 
of  a German  Mittel-Europa  extending  to  the  Bosporus. 

Just  how  far  the  plans  for  uniting  all  the  Jugo-Slavs  under  one 
government  have  gone  among  themselves  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  on 
July  20,  1917,  there  was  issued  from  the  Island  of  Corfu,  where  the 
Serbian  government  had  taken  up  its  seat,  what  is  known  as  “The 
Declaration  of  Corfu.” 

This  provided  for  an  establishment  of  “The  Kingdom  of  the  Serbs, 
Croats  and  Slovenes”  as  a constitutional,  democratic  parliamentary 
monarchy  with  the  Karageorgevitch  dynasty  at  its  head.  It  made  defi- 
nite provision  for  equality  of  the  different  religions  and  of  the  flags  and 
coats  of  arms  of  the  Serbs,  Croats  and  Slovenes,  and  provided  that  “the 
territory  of  the  Serbs,  Croats  and  Slovenes  will  comprise  all  the  terri- 
tory where  our  nation  lives  in  compact  masses  without  discontinuity, 
arid  where  it  could  not  be  mutilated  without  injuring  the  vital  inter- 
ests of  the  community.” 

This  leaves  room  for  compromise  along  the  borders  where  the  popu- 
lations are  intermixed  with  Italians  or  people  of  other  nationalities. 

The  declaration  was  signed  by  Nikola  Pashitch,  president  of  the 
council  and  minister  of  foreign  affairs  of  the  Kingdom  of  Serbia,  and 
Dr.  Anto  Trumbic,  president  of  the  Jugo-Slav  committee. 


Professor  Hinko  Hinkovic,  former  member  of  the  Croatian  parlia- 
ment, and  delegate  to  the  Hungarian  parliament,  now  an  exile  from  his 
native  land,  is  in  the  United  States  representing  the  Jugo-Slavs  of  Aus- 
tria-Hungary. He  is  strongly  in  favor  of  a union  of  all  the  Jugo-Slavs 
under  one  government. 

THE  RUMANIANS 

Rumania  took  its  name,  its  language  and  its  culture  from  Ancient 
Rome,  and  its  people  are  partly  Latin  in  blood.  In  ancient  times  their 
country  formed  the  outpost  of  the  Roman  Empire  toward  the  East.  Ru- 
mania, like  the  other  Balkan  countries,  was  long  under  the  domination 
of  the  Turk.  It  was  liberated  part  at  a time  with  the  result  that  some 
3,000,000  Rumanians  who  were  delivered  from  the  Moslems  before  the 
remainder  of  their  brethren,  found  themselves  subject  to  the  domination 
of  the  Hapsburgs  and  residing  in  the  province  of  Transylvania  and  part 
of  Bukowina. 

It  was  to  liberate  these  Rumanians  from  the  Magyar  yoke  that  Ru- 
mania entered  the  war.  The  fatal  peace,  which  Rumania  was  forced  to 
make,  following  the  collapse  of  Russia,  is  well  known.  Nominally  free, 
Rumania  itself  is  now  under  Teutonic  domination;  and  the  hope  of  the 
Rumanians  of  Hungary  of  joining  their  brethren  rests  solely  upon  an 
Allied  victory  in  the  West  which  shall  force  Austria-Hungary  to  give  up 
these  provinces  to  a really  independent  Rumania  which  will  then  be 
large  and  strong  enough  to  keep  the  Teutons  away  from  the  Black  Sea 
and  to  bar  for  them  the  route  to  the  Orient. 

THE  CASE  OF  POLAND 

The  wrongs  of  Poland  are  too  well  known  to  need  extended  treat- 
ment here.  It  will  be  remembered  how  Poland  was  dismembered,  three 
times,  by  Prussia,  Russia  and  Austria.  In  each  case  the  dismember- 
ment was  purely  land  grabbing.  The  Poles  once  formed  one  of  the 
most  powerful  nations  of  Europe.  They  were  invaded  on  three  sides 
by  strong  neighbors,  and  their  lands  and  their  independence  taken 
away  without  any  excuse  whatever. 

In  territory  the  largest  part  fell  to  the  share  of  Russia.  Prussia, 
however,  followed  out  its  policy  of  taking  the  most  valuable  part  for 
strategic  reasons,  and  seized  the  Baltic  coast  line.  To  Austria  went 
what  is  now  the  Polish  part  of  Galicia. 

The  Poles  long  dreamed  of  and  occasionally  fought  for  the  recon- 
struction of  their  independent  nation,  but  at  last  it  began  to  seem 
that  this  could  never  be  achieved,  and  the  Austrian  Poles,  at  least,  had 
become  almost  reconciled  to  continued  existence  under  a foreign  yoke. 

The  world  war,  however,  threw  the  whole  of  Russian  Poland  under 
German  domination.  Austria,  likewise,  is  completely  dominated  by 
Germany.  The  sufferings  of  Poland  under  the  German  invasion  made 
the  whole  world  stand  aghast.  It  is  now  seen  that  the  German  policy 
is  deliberately  to  depopulate  Poland,  so  that  it  will  not  have  the  trouble 
trying  to  Germanize  it  that  it  did  with  the  portions  of  Poland  that  orig- 
inally fell  to  Prussia’s  share. 

With  all  Poland  in  Germany’s  grasp,  directly  or  indirectly,  and 
Allied  victory  certain  on  the  West  Front,  nothing  short  of  the  creation 
of  a completely  independent  Poland,  strong  enough  to  form  an  effectual 
barrier  against  Germany’s  expansion  toward  the  East,  should  satisfy  the 
Allied  nations. 


Clarence  L.  Speed  has  for  many 
years  been  engaged  in  newspaper 
work  in  Chicago.  He  long  served 
as  city  editor  of  the  Chicago  Kec- 
ord-Herald,  and  as  financial  edi- 
tor, city  editor  and  editorial  writ- 
er of  the  Chicago  Evening  Post. 
The  nature  of  his  work  made 
necessary  on  his  part  a careful 
study  of  the  Great  War  from  the 
day  of  its  inception. 


Copies  may  be  obtained  of  the 

War  Committee  of  the 

Union 

League  Club  of  Chicago, 

at  the 

following  prices,  delivery  pre- 

paid: 

Single  copies 

.$  .05 

One  hundred  copies 

. 2.00 

One  thousand  copies 

. 15.00 

